Method of purifying hydrocarbons



Nw. 17, 192s.`

A. GREENSPAN METHOD oF PURIFYING HYDROCARBONS /1 TTOHNE YS M T EN.. V W

ESOS Filed Nov. 10. v1922 M//T/VESSES Patented Nov. 17, `1925.

PATENT o FFlcF..I

.ADOLP 7GREENS'ZPAN, 0F `MCINATITLAN, VERA CRUZ, MEXICO.

nEtrHon or PURIFYING nYDnocAnBoNs.

' vapplication med November 1o, 1922..l serial naeoaooe.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be 1t known that I. ADoLrH GREENSPAN. a

.citizen of the Republic of Poland, and a resident of Minatitlan, in thel State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, have invented a new and Improved Method of Purifying Hydrocarbons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the process hereinafter vdescribed relates toa method by whichhydrocarbons resulting from the distillation of crude oil, er other hydrocarbons containing wax, can be freed from this wax.

The present methods employed for the treatment of such ils consist in subjecting the aforesaid 'distillates to alow temperature and separating the wax from the oil by passing the cold oil through filter presses, but

the application of this process pre-supposesv that all of the wax will be in. a crystalline modification. y

If the wax is contained in these hydro carbons in an amorphous condition, as, for

iinstance, in the reslduum obtained by the dlstillatlon of crude oil of paraffin base,

the oil is diluted with more than its own volume of gasoline and subjected tothe freezing process and the wax separated by settling, or by aid of centrifuge.

In the event, however, that the oil to be subjected to treatment contains a mixture of crystalline wax and amorphous wax,

neither process can be successfully applied. i

NOW, I have found that I can accomplish the separation of oil from`wa when the latter 1s contained in the oil in a combined crystalline and amorphous state, by first Vre- "movin'g the crystalline and then the amorphous wax.

I have discovered thatvt-he crystalline wax can be segregated from the oil if the heavy, viscous oil is allowed to settle at a tem erature at which no separation of amorp ous wax vcan occur, and that once the crystal line wax has been separated from the heavy oil, the amorphouswax 'canbe removed by distillation. f

` The following procedure may be well employed in order to carry the invention into effect in a form which embodies, by wa of example, all of the improvements w ich compose saidnvention, but it must be clearly .understood that my invention is not limited to the class of oil as described herelnaft-er, and that 1t can be aplplied similarly to any hydrocarbons 'of w atever origin when the wax is contained in the oil in a `combined `amorphous and crystalline state.

with sulphuric ,acid and alkali to removel those lmpurities which can be removed by this known process. Itis then allowedI to settle at a temperature of to 90 F. After'the temperature of the oil is uniform, it is then 'diluted by 15 to 20%f-of its volume of kerosene. The kerosene isadded radually andslowly incorporated with tie oil so as not to destroy the germs of crystalline wax already formed in the original oil. In al short time the crystals begin to grow and to separate vfrom tlie oil. After the state of equillbrium has been recahe'd, the oil is passed through a filter press, but care must be taken not to destroy the crystals by unnecessary motion. Any other known means may be used for the separation of the crystals from the liquid. The filtrate obtained in this process is collected and distilled by the application of heat and steam until the residuumin `the still is free from amorphous wax. The residuum thus obtained is a highgrade cylinder stock of a viscosity, as measured in the Saybolt viscosimeter at avtemperature of 2129 F., of between 130 and 200 seconds, and with a very satisfactory pour point of less than 32 `F. l f

The accompanying drawlng illustrates, by way of example, one form of apparatus which can beL used for carrying outv the aforesaid invention. l V

Figure 1 is a pump which delivers the oil to agitator 2 from which the treated 011 1s drawn into the receptacle/3 in which the oil is allowed to attain a uniform temperature, and is filled with oil tol such-height that kerosene to the amount of 15 to 20% of the volume of the oil can be added.

Figure 4 is an air pipe connected to a oil which is 'delivered by a pump 10 to astorage tank 11. 12 is a pump which takes the oil from the tank 11 to a still 13, which still is used for the said purpose of distilling the oil bythe aid of steam and or vacuum.

14 is a tank to receive the inished oil.L

`and whether they are derived from crude oil by distillation or other means, Vas evapo-v ration and concentratlon, and, although my invention has herelnbefore been ldescribed With a specic example of its application,n it is not intended that the details presented are to be regarded as limitations upon the scope ofthe invention, except in so far as p included in the accompanying claim.

What I claim is:

A. process of removing crystalline and amorphous wax from oil which consists in first causing crystallization of' the crystalline Wax at a temperature of between 80 and 90 ldegrees Fahrenheit by the additiony of 15 to 20 per cent of kerosene, then niechanically separating the oil from the Wax crystals, and then distilling 0H amorphous Wax and kerosene from the separated oil until the residuum inthe stillis a high grade cylinder stock,.substantially as describedl ADOLPH GREENSPAN. 

